No Gods, No Masters
by INeedAHaircut
Summary: Naruto has freed the Kyuubi from its shackles, and freed himself in the process. But humanity still hurtles towards destruction, and he finds himself lured back into the fray. It's not his destiny to save the world - it's his choice. A series of oneshots, set in the 'Lay Down Your Burdens' universe.
1. Inconvenient Truths

**Inconvenient Truths**

_He is the maelstrom, the swirling chaos. It is in his very nature to inflict change upon the world._

* * *

**Near the Western Coast of Wave Country  
640th Year of the Sage (Thirteen years after the Kyuubi's attack)**

Hatake Kakashi wasn't sure what had possessed him to continue on this fool's errand. Sure, his male student had been all too eager to test himself against skilled opponents, and his female student had been taken in by their deceitful client's sob story. And to be fair, they had both been at the top of their respective genders in the academy. But the military wasn't a democracy, and he should have put his foot down and taken his squad back to Konoha.

Instead, he was now facing one of the seven goddamned swordsmen of Kiri, with nothing more than an undermanned genin team at his back.

"Sasuke, Sakura, guard Tazuna," he ordered, and his team moved to obey. Frankly, his genin wouldn't be much more effective against Momochi Zabuza than the old bridge-builder himself would be, but he was hoping that keeping all of his charges in one place would make it easier to defend them.

Not for the first time, he wondered why he had decided to take on a genin team in the first place. Their teamwork was only good if one didn't look too deep, since Sakura was only too happy to follow Sasuke's lead. There was no real camaraderie.

"Copy-nin Kakashi, being saddled with a pair of brats fresh off the teat," the swordsmen chuckled from his position on his sword, embedded in the side of a tree. "My, how the mighty have fallen."

Kakashi's only response was to raise the headband covering his left eye, revealing the reason he had earned that nickname. Against an enemy such as this, he knew he'd have to go all out to win.

"Bringing out the sharingan so soon? I suppose I should be flattered," Zabuza taunted, ignoring the surprised expression on one of the genin. "But that fancy eye can't copy what it can't see, now can it?"

He punctuated that statement with a sudden hop onto the surface of a nearby pool of water, all the better to fuel his elemental techniques. Just as Kakashi had feared, his first move was Kiri's signature technique – the kirigakure no jutsu. The already-thick mist became unnaturally so, to the point where Kakashi couldn't see more than two meters in any direction.

"He'll come after me first," Kakashi reassured his team. "When Zabuza still served Kiri, he was renowned as an expert in silent killing. Be careful."

Sakura gulped, fearing that she was in way over her head. Sasuke still looked determined, but even the normally confident boy seemed like he'd prefer to be elsewhere.

"Eight points – liver, lungs, spine, subclavian, jugul-"

A massive gust of wind suddenly tore through the clearing, interrupting the monologue and rapidly clearing away the chakra-laden mist. It was strong enough that the genin, and Tazuna, almost felt like they would be blown away, though the older ninja were able to anchor themselves with chakra.

Kakashi and Zabuza, both having been surprised by what could only have been a jutsu, looked towards the source of the wind. Approximately twenty meters to the side, on the edge of the clearing, stood a boy of roughly thirteen years. His blonde hair, expressive blue eyes, and cheerful smile served to make him appear open and friendly. On the other hand, the black cargo pants, burnt-orange t-shirt, weapon pouches, and obvious musculature gave both of the experienced jonin the impression of a tiger on the prowl.

_'Naruto,'_ Kakashi recognized. The resemblance to his dead sensei was unnerving, as was the memory of what the boy had accomplished during his final day in Konoha. _'What is he doing here?'_

"Sorry if I'm interrupting your dick-waving contest," the newcomer said, obviously not feeling the least bit sorry, "but I was looking for someone, and that mist was getting really annoying."

Zabuza, for his part, made a completely reasonable assumption given the information at hand. He knew that Kakashi must have been anticipating a battle with more Kiri defectors, after fighting the Demon Brothers. He also knew that genin teams normally had three members. So if Kakashi had a genin who possessed a strong wind affinity, it would have made perfect tactical sense to order that genin to trail slightly behind the main group in order to clear away any mist. Since Zabuza knew he would be at a disadvantage against the sharingan without the mist, he immediately charged to kill the lone genin first.

Naruto was not one of Kakashi's genin.

Zabuza's first slash seemed to confirm his assumptions by hitting home, and Kakashi was on the verge of a panic attack until the critically wounded Naruto dispersed in a puff of smoke. Then a second Naruto dashed from the nearby trees and promptly cut through Zabuza's spine with an invisible blade of wind.

But Zabuza hadn't survived a fight with the Mizukage by being stupid, and he was a big fan of the decoy clone strategy as well. The cut on his back bled only water before the mizu bunshin collapsed into a puddle, and Naruto once again found himself the target of a charging swordsman. Kakashi was torn between staying to defend his team or rushing to aid his sensei's unacknowledged offspring, and his indecision chose the former.

Zabuza had anticipated many possibilities from this surprisingly talented 'genin' when he made his next attack, anything from dodging, using another wind jutsu to try and blow him away, or preferably dying in agony. It came as another surprise, then, when the boy merely raised his left hand to intercept the massive blade. He had just enough time to notice a glowing seal inscribed on the blonde's palm, before his sword made contact with a floating shield of transparent blue chakra, roughly thirty centimeters in diameter, that stopped his momentum cold.

_'A barrier!? Impossible!' _Zabuza thought._ 'How could a lone genin erect such a powerful barrier so quickly?'_ Unbeknownst to him, Kakashi's mind was in similar turmoil.

Naruto, unaware or uncaring of his opponent's shock, raised his right hand towards Zabuza and caused an identical seal to glow. His face, which had previously been stoic during the battle, now bore a victorious smirk.

"Bad boy. Time out - five minutes."

Zabuza didn't have time to respond to the odd statement before chakra flowed from Naruto's right palm. This time, rather than forming a small shield, it formed a tiny dome prison with the swordsman trapped firmly inside. It also cleaved off a huge chunk of his outstretched sword in the process – a chunk which was now supported only by Naruto's left hand.

"Ohhhhhhh shit," Naruto grimaced, looking genuinely surprised. "I seriously didn't mean to do that. Sorry about your sword. Hope you can get it repaired." He dropped the sword fragment, and lowered his hands. Zabuza was disappointed to discover that the barrier didn't require constant contact.

"Don't worry about it, kid," he growled, giving Naruto his finest death glare. "I know _just_ how to fix it."

One of Naruto's eyebrows rose in response to Zabuza's bloodthirsty gaze. "So why are you looking at me like that? I don't know how to reforge a sword."

Their pleasant chat was interrupted when Kakashi arrived on the scene, keeping a close eye on Zabuza. For the first time, Naruto got a good look at the man's headband. _'Wonderful. Konoha ninja,'_ he sighed. _'And the day was going so well.'_

"I don't suppose there's any way to kill him from the outside, is there?" Kakashi questioned, earning himself the next round of Zabuza's glaring.

"Well I _could_ just strengthen the barrier until it stops air transfer, then wait until he suffocates," Naruto replied in a lecturing tone, "but I was actually considering letting him go."

"What!?" Kakashi almost yelled, his head turning so fast that Naruto was surprised he didn't hurt himself.

"How do I put it...?" Naruto mumbled, bringing a finger to his lips in thought. "This whole battle is pointless. Observe."

The two jonin paid close attention as Naruto started digging around in one of his pockets, before he pulled out a storage scroll. After unraveling it, a small dose of chakra caused it to disgorge its contents.

"Tadaa!" he grinned, seeming very pleased with himself as he held up a severed head for the older men to peruse. In the distance, Tazuna collapsed on his ass and gaped in surprise, while the genin were left wondering what all the fuss was about.

Zabuza pursed his lips behind the bandages covering them, and let out a breath. "Gato. So my client is already dead."

"Yep," Naruto nodded. "I normally try to stay out of local politics, but I was in the area after my trip to Water country, and this asshole _really_ had it coming. Call it an act of charity. Everyone started celebrating as soon as I showed off his corpse." He took a moment to reseal the head before he continued. "I killed off his top lieutenants too, but I figured I should stick around a bit to make sure his thugs didn't try anything. Then I was approached by someone who told me her dad might still be in danger from assassins that Gato hired, before his untimely demise."

He took a moment to look over towards Tazuna, and waved. The genin and old man, being too far away to overhear much of the conversation, simply looked confused by the gesture.

"So the lady I was talking to begged me to find daddy bridge-builder and make sure he gets back home. And when a cute MILF asks me for a favor, I have a hard time saying no." He blushed lightly and refused to meet the the eyes of the older men. "Call it another act of charity."

"Well this has been a complete waste of time," Zabuza griped, sheathing the remnant of his sword on his back. "How am I supposed to get a decent paycheck now?"

"You're Momochi Zabuza, right?" Naruto queried. "I think I heard this other guy say that name, and you're obviously a rogue swordsman." Upon hearing Zabuza's grunt of affirmation, he continued. "Have you considered going back to Kiri? I hear they have a new Mizukage, and she's remarkably sane. No bloodline purges, murdering political rivals, or anything."

While Zabuza seemed cautiously optimistic at the news, Kakashi turned his gaze on Naruto and narrowed his eyes.

"That reminds me," he began, drawing their attention back towards him, "Konoha recently got hold of a copy of Kirigakure's latest bingo book edition. You feature quite prominently – something about defeating the Yondaime Mizukage..."

Zabuza's eyes nearly popped out of his head, such was his surprise, though his ego was somewhat soothed by the knowledge that the boy who'd trounced him had previously done the same to the Mizukage. Naruto had a different reaction.

"That bitch!" he shouted in outrage, shaking a fist in the air. "She acted all sweet when I took him down, but now she puts me on her village's hit list!? I'll shove my foot up her ass if I see her again!"

"Actually," Kakashi interrupted, "your entry in the book describes you as a national hero and instructs all of their ninja to avoid combat with you, unless you directly threaten Kiri's safety."

A bingo book wasn't just for telling ninja who to kill, after all. It was an identification guide, so anytime a village thought its ninja needed to be able to identify a foreign combatant on sight, that person got an entry in their book.

Naruto, never having been a registered ninja, hadn't known that detail.

"Oh," he visibly deflated. "Well alright then. Kinda surprised they got the word out so soon."

"Let me guess," Zabuza said in a mocking tone, "another act of charity?"

"What can I say? I'm a really nice guy." Naruto seemed almost embarrassed by the admission. "So are we friends now, or are you going to go into a murder frenzy and make me have to kill you?"

Zabuza pretended to ponder the question for a moment, though the choice was obvious. "I think I'll let you off the hook, just this once." As the words left his mouth, Naruto let the barrier collapse. Zabuza ran off without wasting any more words, while Kakashi kept a close eye on his retreating form.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted, as the swordsman disappeared into the trees. "You forgot half of your sword!" With no reply to be heard, he shrugged, picked up the chunk of metal, and called out to the genin team. "Anyone want a souvenir?"

* * *

**Wilderness Trail  
Five Minutes Later**

Seeing as everyone remaining in the clearing had the same goal, they ended up walking towards Tazuna's home together. Even so, a blind man could have seen the tensions in the group; the genin remained wary of the strange boy after his display of skill, and Naruto himself was bothered by Kakashi's speculative glances, whenever the older ninja could tear his eyes away from his pornography. Oddly enough, Tazuna himself was the member of the group who was most at ease; with Gato dead, and his hired ninja convinced to abandon the job as a result, the bridge-builder was rightfully convinced that his problems had been resolved.

Naruto was a take-charge kind of guy, though, so he decided to attack the rising tension just as he had attacked every other problem in his life.

"So," he began, clapping his hands together, "I think some introductions are in order. I'm Uzumaki Naruto, seal designer and merchant."

"And part-time hero, I take it?" Tazuna jumped in, his pleasant mood rendering the old drunkard more polite than usual. "Anyway, I'm Tazuna, building designer and foreman."

"Ah, a kindred spirit," Naruto smiled back at him, and shook his hand. "And something of a hero yourself, given what you've been up to recently." Tazuna was appropriately flattered by the praise.

Kakashi snapped his book closed and put it away before joining the conversation. "Hatake Kakashi, jonin of Konohagakure, and commander of genin team seven."

"So, I don't mean to be rude," Naruto interrupted, glancing at the rest of the team, "but did someone die on the way here? You're one short."

Kakashi shook his head slightly. "Their graduating class wasn't evenly divisible. Normally an older genin would be slotted in, but the admin people seem to be running a little slow."

Naruto then turned expectantly towards the two genin, waiting for them to introduce themselves. Finally, one of them took the bait.

"Uchiha Sasuke, genin."

_'Well he's a wordy bastard, isn't he?'_ Naruto thought, waiting a few more seconds before facing the final member of their entourage.

"I'm Haruno Sakura," the sole female chimed in, "also a genin." She bowed politely, before a hesitant look crossed her face. "Um, would you happen to be the same Naruto who released the Kyuubi inside Konoha a few years back?"

"Yeah, that was me," he exclaimed nostalgically, the demon having become something resembling a friend during their time together. "I was also in your academy class for a while, but you might not remember since I kept to myself. So how much have you heard about that Kyuubi business?"

"My parents said that you were supposed to keep it under control, but you nearly killed us all by releasing it," she answered nervously, no longer comfortable looking directly at him after her admission.

"Well isn't that special," Naruto pouted, shoving his hands in his pockets. "That kind of bullshit is why I left in the first place. Everything is Naruto's fault. Let's hate him for holding the Kyuubi, then let's hate him for not holding the Kyuubi. Never mind that no one died; clearly Naruto is the root of all evil." He paused, before glancing at the jonin. "Do you agree with that assessment, Kakashi?"

Kakashi rolled his visible eye, not liking where the conversation was going. "Not really. Konoha hasn't exactly treated you fairly." He turned his head so that he could look Naruto in the eyes, ignoring the boy's snort at his understatement. "Even so, standing orders are to capture you on sight."

Everyone else, Tazuna included, tensed in preparation for a fight. Naruto narrowed his eyes and commenced a staring match with the jonin.

"You have a genin team and are escorting a civilian," Naruto growled, his voice warning against any hostile moves. "Do you really want to start that shit now?"

"No, I don't," Kakashi replied, "but I'd appreciate it if you didn't threaten my charges."

Naruto returned his eyes to the trail. "I'm not threatening anyone. But battles are chaotic, and people can make mistakes. If you start a fight while they're standing right next to us, they'll get involved. Doesn't matter what we want."

That was enough to calm things down, and after a few moments Naruto decided to resume his talk with Kakashi. "So I'm not a living weapon for Konoha to use-and-abuse anymore, and I can't be a missing-nin if I was never a ninja. Do you even know _why_ you've been ordered to capture me?"

Kakashi nodded.

"Does your team know?" Naruto asked, looking at the two genin. The lack of comprehension in their expressions was enough of an answer for him. "I'll take that as a negative. Good. At least the old man didn't blab to everyone. I don't need that kind of attention."

"Hokage-sama was concerned that your safety would be jeopardized if the world learned about it, so only jonin have been briefed," Kakashi explained, before pausing to collect his thoughts. "He still cares, you know."

"I stopped giving a damn about his feelings the moment he threatened to have me tortured," Naruto grumbled, eliciting gasps from the three other listeners. "He acts like a kind grandfather, but he still does some pretty nasty stuff."

His sad gaze towards Sasuke managed to confuse everyone else, but he didn't offer any elaboration, and nobody was willing to ask. "We're coming up on the village soon. Let's wrap this job up."

* * *

**Tazuna's Home  
One Hour Later**

Tazuna's family had been thrilled to see him arrive safe and sound, and his daughter Tsunami had insisted that everyone share a late lunch, ignorant of the potential for conflict between Naruto and the Konoha team. It didn't escape Sasuke's notice that Naruto and Kakashi had seated themselves opposite each other, and both were eating light in anticipation of getting a good workout. The Uchiha idly considered asking if they would allow him to observe, then quashed the impulse. He didn't want to seem like a starstruck child, even if he was certain it would be _amazing_.

Once everyone had satisfied themselves, Kakashi decided it was time to begin the festivities. "Well, Naruto, since you were kind enough to clear out any likely danger to my client, I think I can afford to spend some time working on my secondary mission." He rounded off his statement with a cheery eye-smile that made Naruto want to punch him.

Tazuna, who had been hoping they'd put that subject behind them, started looking nervously back and forth between the two. Tsunami and Inari had no idea what the jonin was talking about, but Sakura twitched in her seat, apparently thinking they would just leap onto the table and start hitting each other.

Naruto settled on a feral grin and slowly got out of his chair. "Let's take this outside. No sense breaking our host's stuff." He calmly walked out the front door, and Kakashi followed, leaving his genin with orders to defend the house in their absence.

* * *

**Nearby Forest Clearing  
Three Minutes Later**

After a short but pleasant stroll through the woods, Naruto and Kakashi were satisfied that they had found an acceptably secluded place for the upcoming hostilities. Even so, Kakashi decided to give the diplomatic approach one more try, if only for his own peace of mind. It helped that this was the first chance they had to speak in private.

"You know, Hokage-sama would be happy to prove your lineage to the world once you're safely behind Konoha's walls," he opened, altering his body language to appear nonthreatening. "He seemed pretty certain that a decent PR campaign would be enough to change public opinion in the village, once the announcement was made."

"Yeah, well, I'm not willing to sacrifice my freedom just to see if he's right," Naruto countered, taking the opportunity to do some stretches. "Besides, I've never wanted to be trapped in that man's shadow."

Having had a well-known father himself, Kakashi could sympathize with that. But he still had a job to do. "Your father would've wanted you to be a Konoha shinobi, Naruto. With your potential, you could be even greater than he was."

Naruto scoffed, not at all impressed by the sentiment. "If he wanted me to care about his opinions, he should have lived long enough to express them in person. I'm not going to be ruled by a man who died the day I was born. I've rejected worthier masters."

"Do you... hate him that much?" Kakashi asked, sounding very much like his puppy had just died.

"Hate?" Naruto responded, genuinely surprised by the question. "I never said I hated him. If anything, I pity him; he found himself in a bad position, where his loyalties conflicted with each other."

Seeing that Kakashi didn't grasp his meaning, he paused his stretching to explain. "His duty as a father was to protect me, and that meant getting me out of danger and sticking around to raise me. But his duty as a Hokage meant he had to sacrifice himself, use me as a jinchuriki, and leave me to the mercies of a hostile village. He had to choose between those duties, and he decided to be a Hokage instead of a father."

He spent a few seconds organizing his thoughts, not always being entirely sure of his own feelings when it came to the Yondaime. "I don't hate him, and I respect his skills as a ninja, but I can't love him." Seeing that his opponent seemed upset by his words, Naruto decided to get to the bottom of it. "Why are you taking this so personally, anyway?"

Kakashi sighed, losing himself in memories of happier days. "Your father... was my jonin-sensei, and since my own father died when I was young, I looked up to him as a surrogate."

"Is that so?" Naruto asked, taking a moment to scratch an itch on his back. "Funny. I'm pretty certain we've never met before today."

Kakashi wasn't sure if Naruto had intended to wound him with that statement, but it cut deep all the same. _'Just another person who should have been there for him, but wasn't. That's all I am to him. That's all I'll ever be.'_

Naruto, not being the sort to kick a man when he was down (not emotionally, anyway, unless he really had it coming), saw the faint signs of distress in Kakashi and decided to shift the conversation back to safer territory. And maybe win their battle before it even started, if Kakashi fell for his next trick.

"You know, I wasn't kidding about respecting the Yondaime. You could even say he helped inspire me." He slowly pulled out a seemingly-ordinary kunai from one of his pouches, and began lazily twirling it around by the ring. "Even if the seal he put on me was a pain in the ass to get rid of, fuinjutsu is truly an amazing art. Here, have a look."

Naruto made a slow underhanded toss towards Kakashi, careful not to trigger any well-honed instincts the experienced ninja would possess. Even so, the jonin knew something was wrong with the kunai the moment he caught it and got a closer look at it.

_'There's a seal engraved in the handle, similar to a design I've seen before. But it can't be...'_ He looked up in shock, only to see Naruto disappear from his previous position and reappear right in front of him in the same instant. _'Hiraishin!'_

Kakashi leaped backwards, too slowly to escape, but was surprised when Naruto squandered the advantage by performing a gentle palm thrust against his chest, which only seemed to cause a temporary itching sensation. He immediately tossed the rigged kunai far to the side and raised his headband to reveal the sharingan, expecting that he would need the advantage in reflex time to cope with Naruto's superior speed.

Naruto failed to meet his expectations, instead choosing to stand still and smirk at him.

"Why did you waste that attack?" Kakashi asked, bracing himself in anticipation. "You had me. You could have ended the fight then and there."

Naruto's smirk transformed into a grin. "I _did_ end the fight. If you disagree, come and get me."

Kakashi knew there had to be some trick, but Naruto was the defender in this battle and under no obligation to make the first move. Since Naruto didn't have any hiraishin kunai in his hands, Kakashi decided to risk triggering the trap. He charged forward at his best speed, mindful not to let the boy get a lock on him with those barrier seals which had defeated Zabuza.

When he was halfway to his opponent, the blonde emitted a pulse of chakra. Kakashi's muscles went slack, and he collapsed bonelessly onto the soft ground.

Naruto chuckled at the sight, and began casually strolling up to his fallen adversary. "That little love tap back there was me inscribing a seal onto your chest with my chakra. Neat trick, that. Only the best fuinjutsu users can do it, and only if they know a seal intimately." As he reached Kakashi, he knelt down and carefully rolled the man on his back to make sure he could still breathe. "This particular design is actually one of my more recent creations, though I've used variants before. The new Mizukage commissioned it for dealing with an especially volatile prisoner."

He pulled out another kunai and held it gently to Kakashi's throat. "I win. Admit your defeat, and I'll let you up."

"...huurghhh."

"Close enough."

A second pulse of chakra signaled the end of the seal's effects, and Kakashi was allowed to pick himself off the ground. Naruto dropped the kunai at his feet, disappeared, then reappeared a second later with the kunai his opponent had thrown into the woods, before putting them both away.

"So where was I?" Naruto continued, enjoying the opportunity to chat about his favorite non-ramen subject. "That particular seal links a user with a target, and allows the user to disrupt the chakra network and voluntary muscle control of said target."

"So I noticed," Kakashi grumbled, not particularly happy to have experienced such helplessness firsthand. "Any chance you could take this seal off of me?" he asked, as he covered his sharingan. They began walking sedately back to Tazuna's house.

"I could, but I won't," Naruto answered. Upon seeing Kakashi's pout, he elaborated, "Konoha wants me captured, and I don't _want_ to be captured. Since you're one of Konoha's top mobile assets, it would be stupid to let you keep trying. You might actually win someday." He breathed deeply, clearly basking in his victory. "You're just going to have to live with being my bitch for the foreseeable future."

"Guess this means I need to pay a visit to Jiraiya-sama next time he's in town," Kakashi mumbled, though Naruto was able to hear him.

"Go ahead. It'll be interesting to see if Konoha's best seal master can break the protections on that design," Naruto replied with a smile. "In the mean time, don't worry. Only I can activate it, since I'm the one who applied it. At least this way, I don't have to hurt you."

"As far as crushing defeats go, this was certainly the gentlest I've had," Kakashi admitted.

* * *

**Tazuna's House  
Three Minutes Later**

When they opened the door to Tazuna's home, neither of them were surprised to see that the inhabitants hadn't moved much, with the exception of Tsunami and Inari wandering off somewhere. Even by ninja standards, their duel had been a quick one, with the short pre- and post-battle conversations - and the walk to and fro - actually taking up most of their time. After closing the door, they both took the same seats they had occupied during their meal.

"So..." Tazuna began hesitantly, "you two decide not to fight after all? You don't look like anything happened."

"It takes less skill to kill an opponent than to defeat him without inflicting injury," Naruto sagely replied, not really answering the question.

Sakura looked towards her sensei. "So does this mean we're taking him back with us? He's not exactly restrained."

Naruto snorted with restrained laughter; the girl's faith in her sensei's invulnerability was simply _adorable_. Sasuke, on the other hand, was a little quicker on the uptake, and spun his head to face the blonde sitting next to him.

"How?" he asked breathlessly, torn between admiration and envy at the thought of someone his age besting his sensei.

Naruto took a few moments to decide how to answer that. "Fuinjutsu," he explained, "is, at it's core, a method of altering reality to suit your needs. A user with enough skill, creativity, and preparation can do almost anything; the Yondaime Hokage's greatest achievements were dependent on seals, you know." He gave a knowing glance towards Kakashi, before continuing. "And in your sensei's defense, I cheated. Fair fights are for suckers."

The blonde sighed gently, before returning his attention to Sasuke. "I should probably be getting back to my room at the inn, but I'm debating whether I should enlighten you first."

"Enlighten me?" Sasuke asked, eyes widening slightly. "About what?"

"They say ignorance is bliss," Naruto said, seemingly ignoring the question, "and if my theory about your clan is right, that knowledge could destroy you. Sure you wanna know?"

A deathly chill permeated the room, one which had nothing to do with temperature.

Sasuke glared frostily at the evasive blonde. "You don't get to say something like that and then keep the rest to yourself."

Naruto gave a morbid laugh in response. "No, I suppose keeping it to myself is no longer an option." He then turned to the bridge-builder, the only civilian - other than himself - in the room. "Tazuna, you should probably take a walk or something. You're better off not hearing this."

"Yeah, I got the impression this is going somewhere unpleasant," the old man replied, before standing up and vacating to a different part of the house.

Sakura looked like she was tempted to follow, but the desire to support her crush kept her rooted to her seat. Kakashi was merely intrigued, wondering what fresh new revelation Naruto would add to the pile he already had to deal with today. This mission report was going to be interesting, that was for sure.

Naruto leaned back in his chair, placing both hands behind his head. "First, I have some questions for you all," he stated, adopting the mannerisms of a professor interrogating a student. "What do you think the odds are for a ninja clan of hundreds to all be home at the same time? What are the odds that one man would then be able to kill them all, without anyone outside the compound noticing the commotion, or anyone inside the compound escaping?"

"You're saying Itachi had help," Sasuke cut in. He realized that his previous case of childish hero worship had blinded him to the possibility that Itachi might not have been capable of murdering his family without assistance.

"That is what I'm saying," Naruto confirmed with a melancholy smile, "and considering that the sharingan can supposedly control the Kyuubi, my money's on the Hokage ordering a purge. How else could Itachi ensure they were all in one place, if not with his help?"

Needless to say, the Konoha ninja were shocked. Before now, they had always trusted in the overall benevolence of their leaders. Even Kakashi, who had seen the darker side of the ninja world, hadn't expected to find such nasty skeletons in Konoha's closet. Suddenly, Naruto's antipathy towards the Hokage made much more sense.

"It... it can't be," Sakura feebly protested. Naruto couldn't help but pity the naive girl, who was clearly unprepared to cope with such information.

"I could be wrong, since all of my evidence is circumstantial," he confessed, "but the facts are damn suspicious. I wasn't kidding about this knowledge destroying you, though. If I'm right, and you try to confront the Hokage, you'll die. The old man can be brutal when he thinks it's convenient."

"So why did you even tell me?" Sasuke demanded, his fists clenching tightly on the table. "If my brother was following orders... what am I supposed to do about this? What _can_ I do?"

"Shit's fucked up, I know," Naruto replied, his gentle tone not quite meshing with his choice of words. He was tempted to place a comforting hand on Sasuke's shoulder, but he didn't think the Uchiha was the sort who would appreciate the gesture. "Even if a member of your clan _was_ behind the Kyuubi attack, that was still just one person out of many. I don't condone the murder of innocents, so I felt you deserved to know."

"So what now!?" Sasuke all but yelled. "Am I supposed to just keep serving the man who probably ordered the massacre of my entire family?"

"If you're honestly asking for my advice, confront your brother," Naruto answered. "Talk to him. He chose to slaughter his family, yet he spared your life. If you want closure, figure out why." He shrugged before continuing his train of thought. "As for the old man, he's... old. He most likely won't be in power much longer."

Kakashi let out a breath, glad that Naruto's reply seemed to reduce Sasuke's anger to a manageable level. "Your theory is... disturbingly plausible, and this is one conversation I'll be leaving out of the mission report, but you took a bit of a risk telling him in front of me, Naruto. What if I'd been in on it?"

Naruto smiled softly. "A secret that important isn't something they'd tell to anyone, even you. I figure less than a handful would know besides Itachi and the Hokage himself. Not even the full council would be told, since a purge like this would make the clans nervous." Suddenly, killing intent flooded the room, and Naruto's expression turned malevolent. "But I already said I don't condone the murder of innocents. If you had orders to terminate Sasuke if he found out, well... we already know I can kill you."

_'So that's why he waited until after our fight to spring this on us,'_ Kakashi mused, closing his visible eye in concentration. _'Right now, he could stop me with a thought.'_

For about ten seconds, there was dead silence.

"Anyway," Naruto clapped his hands and stood up, partially dispelling the grim mood brought on by his threat, "I think I've shattered your worldviews enough for one day. Try not to do anything stupid with the information; I don't need your deaths on my conscience. And tell Tsunami I appreciate her hospitality."

As he made his way to the front door and opened it, Kakashi interrupted.

"Naruto... I don't know if it means anything to you, but I think your father would've been proud."

Naruto merely nodded before closing the door behind him.

The total amount of time he would spend in Wave was less than a week. In the wake of his passage, he left behind a country freed from tyranny, a man filled with regrets, a boy who doubted his chosen path for the first time, and a girl who didn't know what to believe in anymore.

* * *

**Next Chapter  
**

_He despises war waged against the innocent. In its place, he wages war against the guilty._

* * *

**Author's Notes**

Naruto - Maelstrom

Some parts of this chapter were a little more angsty than I originally planned. Poor, poor Kakashi. Everything you touch turns to dust. Everyone you care about leaves you.

Yes, Naruto is already S-rank. The previous oneshot established him as genin-level at the age of seven (for comparison, Kakashi was a Chunin at six). In canon, he went from genin to S-rank badass in about three years. He's had roughly twice that here (and he knows how to abuse kage bunshin), only he substitutes the Kyuubi for a thorough education in fuinjutsu. Less raw power, but more tricks and traps, though the ten years spent with a bijuu inside him still guarantees him more chakra than most will ever have. Also, he cheats.

As the summary said, this 'story' will be presented as oneshots within the same continuity. I previously mentioned not having the patience for writing a longer story, so I felt this was a good compromise.


	2. Acts of Charity

Because chronological order is for sissies.

* * *

**Acts of Charity**

_He despises war waged against the innocent. In its place, he wages war against the guilty._

* * *

**Outskirts of Yokohama – Port City on Western Coast of Water Country  
****639th Year of the Sage (Twelve years after the Kyuubi's attack)**

"What the hell is wrong with this country?" Naruto muttered.

It was a fair question. He'd only been in the country for a few weeks, offering to design and apply various seals for people and businesses, and he could already see that Water was not in good shape. The Mizukage seemed to be using his ninja as secret police, getting rid of anyone he deemed 'undesirable' and ruling the rest by fear alone.

Apparently, undesirables included people with bloodlines. The ninja on whose back Naruto was currently seated had taken one look at his whisker-shaped birthmarks, made some false assumptions, and promptly tried to arrest him – a decision which had resulted in Naruto leading him away from the city before casually subduing the man. Speaking of which...

"That question wasn't rhetorical, jackass," Naruto said, punctuating the statement with a slap to the back of his assailants head. "Make with the talking."

"Kanagaki Haru, chunin, registration C-2718-"

"Oh, for fucks sake," Naruto interrupted, "don't give me that prisoner of war bullshit. I'm not even asking for anything classified. Just tell me why the Mizukage is terrorizing his people and running his nation into the ground."

"A foreigner, then?" his captive asked. "I'd rather not advertise our shameful conduct to the world."

Naruto scoffed and put a kunai to the Kiri chunin's neck, eliciting a sharp intake of breath from the helpless captive. "You attacked me because I have freaking lines on my face. If you want to live, you'll give me a reason to like you."

The ensuing conversation had been enlightening, among other things.

Several years ago, the previously respectable Mizukage had taken a flying leap off the deep end and decided to purge any possible source of opposition to his rule. The various ninja clans, being the biggest potential source of internal conflict, had been the ones most heavily targeted. And considering most clans were formed by bloodline carriers, anyone who possessed a bloodline was now subject to arrest and summary execution.

Of course, anyone who tried to help them was liable to meet the same fate. The situation had gotten so bad that the common folk in some areas were killing, or driving out, anyone among them who was suspected of carrying a bloodline for fear of the Mizukage's wrath. In the end, the clans and their supporters had no choice but to flee Kiri and begin a guerrilla campaign to try and topple the Mizukage, leading to the very civil war that the Mizukage had claimed he was trying to prevent. The concept of self-fulfilling prophecies had apparently been lost on him.

"You called this conduct shameful," Naruto said, "so why are you supporting it?"

Haru let out a melancholy sigh. "The Mizukage's more fanatical supporters would have punished everyone around you just for tolerating your presence. At least my way is gentler. I would have only taken you."

"Why do you still serve him at all, if you hate what he's doing?"

"If every moderate leaves his service, the fanatics will be the only ones left."

Naruto was a little sympathetic, but part of the explanation didn't seem to mesh. "Seems like everyone else who opposes him is actually, you know, opposing him. Yet you're helping him. Why?"

His captive's downtrodden expression was his only answer.

"You don't think the rebels can win."

It wasn't a question, though Haru's nod answered anyway.

With a groan, Naruto got to his feet and helped his captive up – a gesture which seemed to surprise the older man. The boy made to leave the area, but as he was walking away he turned around to address the chunin one last time.

"I understand your position, but there are limits to what I can excuse because of orders," Naruto began, fixing his former opponent with a glare. "Don't let me see you doing this type of thing again. You won't survive my... _disappointment_."

* * *

**Inland Village  
****One Week Later**

The main reason Naruto had kept up his combat training was because of the possibility of Konoha trying to reclaim him. That, and his ability to make numerous kage bunshin meant he had no shortage of man-hours in the day with which to practice, and thus no excuse for slacking off. Five years of that sort of training had made him one of the most capable fighters in the world at the tender age of twelve.

Regardless of his skill, it had never been his intention to get involved with other people's problems. He had never wanted to use his abilities in a war that didn't concern him. But while he was content to let ninja kill each other til the end of time, his brusque demeanor hid a surprisingly gentle soul. There were some things he simply couldn't ignore.

He had only been making a brief stop in a small woodland village during his journey. With a population of only a few hundred, there was nothing that should have attracted any attention to the quaint village. So when a team of four Kiri ninja marched into town with a purpose, Naruto felt compelled to find out what they were hoping to accomplish and carefully followed them.

Once the three males and one female reached the center of the village and had everyone's attention, the squad leader made his announcement.

"It has come to the attention of the Mizukage that this village is harboring a traitorous bloodline wielder in it's midst! You will surrender him to us immediately!"

_'They can't be referring to me, can they?'_ Naruto thought, safely hidden in a spot where he could hear everything. _'Seriously, I don't even have a bloodline, and I can't be a traitor to a country I've only been in for little over a month.'_ He didn't think Haru was the sort to sell him out, but it wasn't as though he'd never been wrong before.

The villagers were in a near panic, most having no idea who the ninja were talking about, but comprehending that their lives were suddenly in jeopardy.

"This is the only time I'm going to repeat myself," the squad leader shouted. "If he does not appear before me, you will all suffer for it!"

Naruto tensed in anticipation, despite knowing he was fast enough to simply leave if he chose to. But this wasn't something he could turn his back on. If it was him they wanted, he couldn't let these people die for just being in the same place for a day.

His intervention seemed to prove unnecessary, however, when he observed another man step forward out of the crowd. The scarred, dark-haired villager was obviously a former ninja, and Naruto assumed he was the one the team was looking for.

_'Crisis averted,'_ Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. _'If ninja want to kill each other over politics, that's their problem. I'm staying out of it.'_ Even as the thought crossed his mind, it felt hollow and unsatisfying. It was obvious who was in the wrong here, and simply ignoring the blatant injustice left a bad taste in his mouth.

He was just preparing to make a stealthy exit when a gurgling sound, the thud of a body hitting the ground, and numerous gasps reached his ears. _'What, they couldn't even take him out of the village and back to Kiri before they slit his throat? Assholes.'_

Unfortunately, it wasn't laziness that led the team to kill their quarry in the middle of a crowd of shocked onlookers. They still had business with the village.

"By order of the Mizukage, this village is to be made an example. Those who harbor traitors will share their fate!" With that statement, the rest of his team drew their weapons, and prepared for a massacre.

_'I can still leave. They don't know I'm here, and I'm way faster than the average...'_ Naruto's inner monologue trailed off, as anger began to dominate his thoughts. _'Oh, who am I kidding? Fuck neutrality, I'm putting an end to this.'_ Before the Kiri team could begin their grisly task, Naruto advanced through the fleeing, screaming crowd to grab their attention.

"Stop right there, evildoers!" he yelled, adding to the intentional overacting by pointing dramatically. Pretending to be a moron in Konoha had taught him the value of being underestimated by one's enemies. Sure enough, the ninja all paused to look at him, raised eyebrows asking if he was _really_ that stupid. _'This should buy enough time for everyone to get out of the way.'_

"Who the hell are you?" the cocky-looking punk to the right of the squad leader asked, as the village square quickly emptied around them.

"I... am the champion of justice!" Naruto replied, slipping into his role like a natural. "I am the light in the grim darkness of a grimdark world! Those who would prey upon the innocent - beware! For my fist shall punch evil in the dick, right before I steal evil's wallet!" He then gestured to his whiskered cheeks, remembering his previous scuffle with a Kiri nin. "And check out these weird birthmarks. I've got, like, a dozen bloodlines and shit. All the better with which to oppose your villainy!"

The leader face-palmed in exasperation. "Kenji," he said, looking at the same ninja who had previously spoken, "do humanity a favor, and remove this idiot from the gene pool."

"With pleasure, captain," the man now identified as Kenji replied, and began advancing menacingly towards Naruto.

The rest of the team turned aside, preparing to cut off the civilian's escape routes from the village, which prevented them from seeing the quick and utterly one-sided battle between their hardened ninja comrade and a twelve-year-old civilian boy. When they heard a body hit the ground, they assumed it was the foolish child who had perished. But the voice that addressed them next was not their teammate's.

"I don't think you understand the situation."

Acting in surprised unison, the three remaining ninja turned back towards the child. The body of their teammate lay cooling face-up on the ground in front of him, throat violently cut, with a similar look of shock on his own face as they possessed. The boy was calmly wiping a bloody kunai on the dead man's clothing, his current grin showing far too much teeth to be mistaken as friendly.

"You came here to kill these people; I came here to stop you." Naruto stood up from his crouch, and kicked the dead ninja's body for emphasis. "One side is going to end up disappointed - and dead. Think you jokers can afford to take this lightly?"

With a yell of grief and rage, the man and woman who had previously been silent charged forward, intent on taking Naruto's life. Their more level-headed squad leader followed shortly after them, obviously hoping to take advantage of any openings his more impetuous subordinates created.

With three experienced ninja attacking him head-on, and his own skills largely untested in serious combat, Naruto decided to stack the odds in his favor. His first move was to retreat out of the village and up into the nearby trees as his enemies pursued; while he may have left Konoha behind, he was still a native of the village hidden in the leaves and had lived there for most of his life. He'd bet his skill in woodland combat against that of any Kiri nin.

_'First rule of fighting a seal user,'_ Naruto said to himself as he came up with a battle plan, _'don't follow the seal user into terrain that he has had time to prepare.'_

He paused on a large tree limb, taking just enough time to put his hand on the trunk and inscribe an explosive seal with his chakra before moving on – high yield, because he didn't do _anything_ halfway. Chakra inscription was one of many neat tricks that Kurama had taught him in their time together (ordinary sealing materials being hard to afford on an orphan's stipend, and not used by the bijuu anyway), and while he could still only do it quickly with relatively basic seals, he was constantly improving.

_'Addendum – a seal **master** can prepare terrain in seconds.'_

Sure enough, the Kiri nin were not as adept at navigating in the trees as he was, so they used the same obvious path he did. He slipped around another tree for cover, and detonated the seal when he estimated one of his pursuers would be close enough to it. As the sound of the blast reverberated through the area, he made out a pair of opposite-gendered screams mixed in and knew his trap had been even more successful than he expected.

_'Two for one, eh?'_ he thought with a grim smile. _'That leaves only one more. These fuckwads aren't much of a challenge.'_

Sure enough, a discreet peek at the situation revealed that the team had been effectively neutralized. The squad leader was dead (and in pieces), the female laying on the ground was so badly injured that she might as well be dead, and the last survivor was shaking in terror, torn between wanting to flee and trying to keep the woman's organs where they belonged. Seeing that he had the situation well under control, Naruto readied his kunai and charged his remaining foe. The man raised a short sword to defend himself, but Naruto merely charged wind chakra through his own weapon and cut right through the blade.

His remaining adversary wisely tried to dodge the second attack after seeing the futility of blocking, but wind chakra could lengthen a blade as well as sharpen. The next swing removed the man's right arm at the elbow, and a cry of pain filled the air as he collapsed to the ground.

"P-please, don't kill me..." he pleaded, desperately trying to crawl backwards with his one good arm.

_'That's rich. He would murder hundreds of innocents, yet he's begging for mercy?'_ Naruto thought grimly, glaring into the eyes of his cowering enemy. And yet, even knowing his foe deserved to die couldn't stop him from hesitating. _'Bah, Kurama would call me a softy. But if I'm seriously going to get involved, this guy may be useful.'_

"If you want to live," Naruto began, "you need a tourniquet for that arm." Closing the distance with the seated man, he used his kunai to cut some of the cloth from the ninja's clothing in order to staunch the bleeding. As he began tying off the stump of the arm, the wounded man looked on in stunned silence, having a hard time comprehending that his plea for mercy had been effective.

"You're...letting me live?" he timidly asked.

Naruto nodded, biting back the urge to insult him for asking stupid questions. Having finished stemming the blood flow as best he could, he turned towards the barely-conscious woman and walked towards her. But rather than make any attempt at field medicine, he simply plunged his kunai into her heart. The remaining life in her eyes vanished swiftly, as she left the world without a sound.

"You...you..." the man trailed off, wanting to express his anger but kept in check by his fear.

"Spare me the righteous indignation," Naruto replied, turning back towards him. "Unless your name is Senju Tsunade, she was beyond saving. Or were you hoping I'd let her suffer?"

The man made no response, merely keeping a wary gaze on Naruto as the boy walked towards him again.

"My mercy has conditions," Naruto said, looking the ninja in the eyes while standing over him. "First, your arm stays here. Consider this the end of your ninja career, since you can't seem to use your power responsibly." The man whimpered, understandably upset at the prospect of not being able to get it reattached, but Naruto pressed on before he could interrupt.

"Second, you'll be delivering my declaration of war to the Mizukage."

The wounded man went wide-eyed for a moment, before he began laughing hysterically. Maybe he was going into shock, or maybe the statement was just that absurd to his ears, but he just couldn't seem to stop himself.

"You... you think you can challenge him alone?" he asked, gasping for air as he stifled his giggling with incredible effort.

_'Good question,'_ Naruto secretly thought. _'What am I getting myself into this time? I'm already hunted by one hidden village; I don't need another on my ass.'_

Outwardly, he refused to show his doubts. "Well I sure as hell don't intend to waste the rest of my life killing pawns," he said, with a derisive gesture towards the two nearby bodies. "You idiots are just the symptom. If the Mizukage is man enough to leave his hole, I'll solve this problem at the source."

"You're serious, aren't you?" the one-armed man replied, suddenly experiencing doubts of his own in the face of the seemingly confident boy that had just annihilated his team.

In that moment, he felt certain he was witnessing the birth of a legend.

"Deadly serious, as you might have noticed," said Naruto, no trace of humor in his visage despite the pun. "Now, get up and start heading for Kiri. You still need proper medical attention eventually if you want to live, and it'd be embarrassing if my messenger died before delivery."

* * *

**Three Kilometers from the Main Entrance of Kirigakure  
****Two Days Later**

Of course, waging a one-man war against a tyrannical government was easier said than done. Naruto wasn't stupid enough to think he could just waltz into Kiri and kill the Mizukage in his den without any sort of information on Kiri's defenses. He also didn't believe that the Mizukage would be courteous enough to leave the village and meet him in honorable combat (and Naruto didn't feel like challenging a Kage to a fair fight anyway). So despite his desire to target the Mizukage directly, all he could really do at the moment was attack those of his ninja who were up to no good and wait for an opportunity to reveal itself.

But Kiri had an army of ninja hunting for wayward clans and fighting the rebels. If he was going to put a stop to their actions, he would have to occupy their attention all by himself. In order to fight an army, he needed a proper army-killing jutsu. Given his mastery of fuinjutsu, there was one solution that immediately came to mind.

He'd cracked the secret of space-folding seals a while ago, but he had never had a reason to use them in combat before. However, if he was going to stop a large, spread-out enemy force single-handedly, he needed a way to traverse vast distances quickly and take out individual units by surprise.

It was time for the world to bear witness to the Hiraishin's rebirth.

His plan was a simple one, as he knew that complex plans had a nasty habit of falling apart. He had found a good spot near the main road out of Kiri, and would observe the ninja teams leaving the village. For each team, he would send a kage bunshin to shadow them, armed with a single hiraishin-marked kunai. If the team engaged in acts of aggression against noncombatants, the kage bunshin would disperse, and Naruto would warp in to dispatch them. If the team was 'innocent', he'd simply collect his kunai and leave them be.

Since he knew this plan would be taxing, even on his formidable reserves, he set himself a few additional rules of engagement. Seeing as Water was an island nation, separate from the rest of the elemental countries, any team that had business outside its borders had to carry plenty of supplies. Therefore, he'd ignore those packed for a long trip and focus his attention on the comparatively lightly-equipped squads that were more likely to be terrorizing Water itself. He also understood that he probably couldn't save everyone, no matter how hard he tried, so he reminded himself to only challenge one squad at a time. He was no good to anyone if he over-extended and got himself killed.

His biggest concern had been the possibility of being detected by the teams he was shadowing, as they would likely attack him regardless of whether or not he had any intention of harming them. To assist in tracking them safely, he had quickly whipped up another seal design which warned him of any large chakra sources and displayed their relative locations. It was nowhere near as good as being an actual chakra sensor, since he couldn't detect the number of ninja or how powerful they were, and only got a very rough idea of their direction and range. Unfortunately, true chakra sensory was a one-in-a-thousand talent among ninja, and Naruto hadn't lucked out. While it was within his abilities to make a more precise detection array like those used to defend villages, they required more space than he had skin to put them on, even when miniaturized as much as possible.

_'And here come the first test subjects'_ he thought, as the seal on the back of his hand warned of nearby chakra signatures. A kage bunshin came to life with a thought and set off in pursuit of the Kiri nin, using the matching seal on its own hand to keep a safe distance. The original simply settled into his camp site, aware that he might be called into action by the mental feedback at any moment.

_'Time to go to war.'_

* * *

**Woodland Near Kirigakure  
****Twenty-Three Days Later**

Kazuhiro was frustrated.

For over three weeks now, an unknown agent had been wiping out the majority of purge teams sent out from Kirigakure. A crippled survivor from the first known incident claimed that it was the result of a single boy, and the analysts agreed that the cases appeared to be the result of a solitary attacker striking from ambush. After about a week of mounting losses, and no results from conventional methods, the Mizukage had given him command of a massive search-and-destroy mission, composed of forty ninja – ten full teams. They were among the best hunters Kiri had, and should have been far more than enough to find and kill any single person, no matter how good they were.

For two weeks, they had known only failure.

On several occasions, they had engaged in battle with their mysterious enemy, only for him to slip away before they could bring their superior numbers to bear. In the meantime, he had managed to continue his assaults on isolated purge teams, until such missions had been halted indefinitely. If his goal was merely to stop the purges, he had technically succeeded already, if only in the short term.

Two weeks of hunting him, and all Kazuhiro had to show for it were casualties. Roughly a third of his platoon were now dead or seriously injured, and several others seemed to be contemplating defection, either because they were terrified, or because they were inspired. If the next skirmish ended as previous ones had, they'd be forced to return to Kiri in defeat.

"_Team four to command, we have contact!"_ the radio bud in his ear squawked.

Kazuhiro brought the transmitter hooked to his waist up to his mouth to relay instructions, forming a mental image of where all his teams should be. "Command to four, flank him and wait for reinforcements. Don't let him out of sight. Two and seven, close in and engage. All other teams, form a perimeter and tighten it around him."

As the teams confirmed their orders and moved to obey, he led his own team in the direction that team four had been scouting, hoping that this would be the day they successfully closed the noose. Off in the distance, a powerful explosion suddenly erupted, sending dirt and debris much higher into the air than what a normal explosive tag would ever accomplish. Even at this range, he could feel the concussive force generated by the blast. Their enemy apparently fancied himself a seal master, and those damnable exploding traps of his were now rightly feared by all of Kazuhiro's ninja.

He would have been amused by a young boy showing such interest in massive explosions, if it hadn't been his own people getting torn apart.

As he continued to advance upon the enemy and sort through incoming status reports, he heard the words he dreaded.

"_He disappeared!" _announced team seven's leader.

Kazuhiro growled in barely-suppressed fury. "Trackers, can you get any trace of him this time? People don't just vanish into thin air."

"_One moment, we're arriving at his last known position."_

By the time they had any information for him, he had already arrived, rendering the radios unnecessary. The teams he had ordered to engage were mainly clustered around a single point and gesturing at the ground. In the distance, he could see traces of the explosion and his medics tending to some prone bodies.

"Report," he barked at the commander of team two, who was also second in command of the entire platoon.

"It's just like every other time – disappears as soon as more than one team tries to close in." The adjutant sighed; everyone was feeling exhausted by the string of failures. "There's no trace of scent or tracks to follow beyond the point where he vanished, and even our sensor isn't picking anything up. But four and seven swear he didn't disperse like a clone would."

"Tch," Kazuhiro hissed, fists clenching in irritation, "the bastard's dragging us around by the tail, and we don't even understand how. Casualties?"

"One dead, two severely injured, one more walking wounded." His second looked apologetic, knowing how much his commander hated to lose. "Looks like we'll have to return empty-handed after all. The platoon's no longer combat ready in its current state."

"I know," Kazuhiro grunted. Just because it was necessary didn't mean he had to like it. "Get the wounded ready to move as soon as possible. We'll just have to report our findings, and hope our analysts can come up with a better plan to deal with him."

He didn't voice the thought to his subordinates, but something about whatever technique the blond kid was using to run rings around them tickled his brain. It reminded him of stories he'd heard about the Iwa-Konoha front of the Third Shinobi War.

But that couldn't be possible...

* * *

**Rebel Encampment  
****Six Hours Later**

It was near the end of the day, during a routine status briefing, when the rebel leadership found their meeting interrupted. They had been standing around a table, looking at a large map with figurines representing troop placements, as the news arrived.

"Terumi-sama," said the messenger, standing at the entrance of the command tent, "the hunting party you told us to keep an eye on has withdrawn back to Kirigakure."

A middle-aged man with an eye-patch laughed at the news. "Heh, finally retreated to lick their wounds, eh? Hard to believe one person could give them the runaround."

Terumi Mei, leader of the rebel forces, turned towards him after a moment of thought. "Now that their target is no longer being actively pursued, I'd like you to go and extend an invitation to him, Ao. We'll never get a better opportunity."

A momentary silence followed her proclamation.

"You're serious about this, aren't you?" one of her senior officers spoke, expressing his discontent. "You're going to send our second-in-command, by himself, to meet up with an unknown foreigner and invite him into the very heart of the rebellion?"

A coy smile graced her features. It was a fair concern, and she wasn't the sort to punish her subordinates for making valid observations - just one of many reasons she commanded tremendous loyalty among those who opposed the Mizukage.

"Even as you call him a threat, you continue to underestimate him. He has single-handedly slain dozens of the Mizukage's most fanatical killers. Purges in outlying areas have ground to a halt solely because of him." At this, she let out a melodious chuckle, as though she were privy to a joke that no one else understood. "Of the people and villages he saves, most go on to openly support us. Many who formerly served the Mizukage out of fear now believe he can be beaten, and are defecting to us in droves. Furthermore, tying up loyalist manpower in that hunting party has allowed us to gain ground in several regions."

She paused for a few seconds to let the implications sink in, before addressing those who doubted her once more. "It would be no exaggeration to say that much of the credit for our recent successes can be attributed to him. Now, does anyone here still believe the Mizukage would do _so much_ damage to his own cause, just to plant a single spy among us?"

Only silence met her words, and she smiled once more.

"I didn't think so."

* * *

**Woodland Near Kirigakure  
****Twelve Hours Later**

Naruto, having managed to get a good night's sleep without interruption, decided that his annoying pursuers must have given up for now and resolved to get some much needed rest. He had been running himself ragged the past few weeks, between ambushing purge teams all over the country and evading ambushes himself. Grudgingly, he would admit to being impressed by the tracking skills of the ones that had been hunting him, as even using clones to create false trails didn't seem to buy him more than a few hours at a time. Now that he had no one he needed to kill, and no one trying to kill him, he could finally spare some time to relax.

Despite how troublesome this whole mess had been, he was content with his accomplishments thus far. He'd never expected to play the role of the stereotypical hero after swearing off becoming a ninja – not that he thought shinobi were entirely heroic, after everything he'd seen – but there was a certain satisfaction to be found in protecting the weak and innocent. He felt he might get addicted, if he wasn't careful.

The past few weeks had also done wonders for his fighting abilities. While he'd been extremely skilled to begin with, this was the first real chance he had to test those skills against anyone other than the occasional bandit who mistook a lone child for easy prey. A few close calls in his first battles had tempered his skill with much-needed experience, and made him all the more deadly for it.

_'But enough of such weighty matters!'_ he said to himself with a smile. _'I'm taking the next few days off. Feels nice to have nothing to do, after all that running around.'_

Whistling a lighthearted tune to himself, he reached into one of his pant pockets and pulled out a storage scroll with various necessities locked away. One puff of smoke later, and he had a cup of ramen and a supply of fresh water. Now he just needed to start a fire, boil the latter, and pour it into the former to have himself a pleasant breakfast. The trail rations and occasional wild game he'd been surviving off of for the past few weeks were healthier by far, but he felt he deserved a treat.

_'Or not,'_ he interrupted himself, as the seal on the back of his hand tingled in warning. _'Bastards! They just had to interfere with ramen time.'_

With a sigh, he resealed his cooking supplies and oriented himself in the direction the seal indicated a foreign chakra was approaching from. He'd honestly thought they'd given up hunting him for a while, but it seemed he'd have to give them another bloody nose. Strange that the enemy wasn't moving very fast...

Before he could even see his opponent, a calm, masculine voice called out to him. "So this is the boy that has been causing the loyalists so much pain?"

Slowly walking into the clearing was one of the more distinctive-looking men Naruto had ever seen. The eye-patch and blue-tinted hair contributed heavily to that impression, though Naruto's professional side also noted the complex seals that served as the man's earrings.

"You've been making waves recently, boy. Seems like everyone is taking notice of your actions."

"S'up," Naruto replied curtly, not really in the mood for whatever verbal foreplay the mystery man was trying to draw him into. His chakra-detection seal wasn't precise enough to tell him if this was the only person in the area, so he remained alert for more company.

The man closed his visible eye and seemed to concentrate for several seconds before smirking. "Interesting seals you have on your kunai. Given what I've heard about your performance, I can make a pretty good guess as to what those are."

Given that said kunai were still secured in his weapon pouches, the statement managed to shock Naruto considerably, though he did an excellent job of keeping his feelings from showing. In attempting to figure out how the man knew so much, he returned his focus to the seal earrings and made a fascinating discovery of his own.

"Interesting seals you have on your ears. High-level barrier seals, configured to protect your covered eye socket. I'm guessing that socket isn't empty, and given that you can see through objects, I can make a pretty good guess as to what bloodline is transplanted there."

Now it was the unknown man's turn to be surprised, as Naruto smirked victoriously. _'That's right, asshole, you're not the only one whose secrets are out in the open.'_ Still, Naruto wasn't a huge fan of mind games, so he decided to speed things up a little. "So... what do you want? If you came here to kill me, you should probably go get some of your friends first."

"Seems I forgot to introduce myself," said the man, raising his hands to show he had no hostile intentions. "Name's Ao, and I'm here on behalf of Terumi Mei. She was hoping to meet you."

"And this is... someone I should care about?" asked Naruto, his expression deadpan. He hadn't been paying too much attention to local politics beyond the whole 'crazy Mizukage' issue, and he'd been spending most of the last three weeks in the wilderness, only stopping briefly at isolated villages to resupply (whenever scavenging from his enemies wasn't enough).

Ao offered a friendly smile in response. "She's only the leader of the rebellion, kid. Given how much you've done to help our cause, she'd like to coordinate our efforts with you."

_'Took them long enough,' _Naruto thought, standing down from his alert state. He'd honestly been expecting someone from the resistance to seek him out sooner, but they were more cautious than he had expected. "Well if you're not here to fight me to the death, give me a few minutes," he said, unsealing his ramen once more. "I think I deserve a break before I get back to that whole 'war' business."

* * *

**Rebel Encampment  
****Eight Hours Later**

Naruto had to admit that the rebels seemed to be in surprisingly good shape. From what little he'd seen of them as he passed through the base, they were both disciplined and motivated. No wonder they'd managed to put up a strong fight for years, with no signs of backing down. This Terumi person obviously knew her stuff if she managed to keep her army intact for so long.

Just outside the command tent, Ao called a sudden halt to their two-man march. "If you'll wait out here for a minute, I need to have a quick word with her."

"Off to give her your first impressions, huh?" Naruto muttered, before shrugging his shoulders. "It's not like you're gonna tell her something I don't already know, but I suppose it's only proper to do your gossiping behind my back."

Ao rolled his eyes, though the suppressed smirk showed his true feelings. "You're one weird kid, you know that?"

"No one ever accused me of being normal," Naruto replied with a wan smile. People like himself weren't usually the products of happy lives, though he was one of the lucky few who managed to leave their problems in the past. He knew not everyone was so fortunate.

Ao disappeared through the portal into the tent, and Naruto resigned himself to wait, having had some prior experience with important people taking him far too lightly. It came as a pleasant surprise, then, when Ao reappeared before he could start twiddling his thumbs and told him the boss was ready to see him. Maybe they were actually serious about this 'alliance' after all.

Inside the tent, he immediately noticed three people other than himself and Ao. Two males, probably bodyguards, were positioned to attack him if he tried anything, while seated at a desk was a surprisingly attractive redhead wearing a low-cut dress which did an excellent job of emphasizing her 'assets'.

"How the hell do you fight in that outfit?"

Ao snorted, Mei bore an amused grin, and the two unknowns were glaring mildly at him. Only then did he realize something important.

_'I said that out loud, didn't I?'_

"It's... easier than you'd think, and a good way to be underestimated," Mei responded, recovering admirably from the blunt question. "So you're Uzumaki Naruto, the boy who decided to challenge the loyalists alone."

She gave him a knowing smirk before continuing, one which made Naruto immensely uncomfortable.

"The last time a blond, blue-eyed young man with strange seals on his kunai got involved in a war, he ended up turning the tide almost single-handedly. It seems you're already well on your way to surpassing him." She leaned back in her chair, appearing confident in the accuracy of her implied deduction.

Naruto groaned. "Is it really that obvious? Sure didn't seem like anyone in Konoha could figure it out on their own."

"Admittedly, had I not known your skills, I might have assumed the resemblance was coincidental. But that does lead me to an important question - why is the Yondaime Hokage's heir running around in Kiri territory, getting involved in our problems?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head, mildly embarrassed. "If your Mizukage was only going after political rivals and such, I'd have happily stayed out of it. But when I saw a team about to slaughter an entire village, I decided to... express my _displeasure_. And then I went and repeated the lesson a few times, 'cause the Mizukage's thugs are slow learners." A nonchalant shrug followed, before he continued. "Plus there was that time some moron tried to arrest me for my nonexistent bloodline. Kinda pissed me off."

"Kanagaki Haru, if I'm not mistaken," Mei interrupted. Seeing that Naruto was wondering how the hell she knew about that, she elaborated. "One of our more recent recruits. He defected not too long ago, and told us all about his encounter with the person carving a bloody path through loyalist purge teams."

"Neat," Naruto replied, pleased that the man had decided to do the right thing after all. "Tell him I'm not disappointed. He'll understand."

"You haven't answered the original question," exclaimed one of the unknown men in a frosty tone. "Why did you come here in the first place? Does Konoha seek to take advantage of our turmoil?"

_'Why are you even talking?' _Naruto asked himself, mentally renaming the unfriendly man Bastard. This meeting was supposed to be between him and the rebel leader, maybe Ao too, and he'd been surprised by the rude interruption from some nobody he'd all but forgotten. It was as if a piece of furniture had suddenly decided to call his mother a whore.

"Hey man, I don't work for Konoha, or anyone else," Naruto answered, turning his head to glare at Bastard. "And you're the ones who came to me. If you can't trust me, I'll just be on my way."

"You know our base's location, and have seen its layout," Bastard sneered. "We can't let you leave with that information."

"You won't be able to stop me," Naruto challenged, preparing to jump to one of the many hiraishin seals that were now dotting Water country. "I've gotten pretty good at running away, and making my attackers bleed in the process."

"Enough," Mei firmly spoke, standing up in a manner calculated to engrave her authority on the subconscious of everyone present. With the minute amount of killing intent she used for emphasis, she seemed to radiate beauty and power in equal measure. Naruto could easily understand how such a woman could command the respect of the men around her, even in the male-dominated fields of killing people and breaking things.

Fortunately, her ire seemed to be reserved for Bastard, who quickly backed down. Whatever Bastard's opinions might be, she had made it clear that she trusted, and was siding with, Naruto.

Idly, he scratched at the back of his hand, where the detection seal was constantly tingling, and reminded himself to remove it when he had some free time. It was damned useful when fighting solo, but incredibly annoying now that he was hanging out with friendly ninja. Still, the design had proven its worth, and he resolved to keep working on it.

"So..." he trailed off, dispelling the air of imminent violence that permeated the tent, "back to the war. How do we whack the Mizukage?"

Mei sighed, and sat back down. "We've tried that before. It's not so simple a task."

"Sure it is," Naruto contradicted. "I didn't say it was easy, but it's plenty simple - this fight only ends when you remove him. So figure out what's stopping you from doing that. What are the obstacles you need to overcome? You must have people in Kiri who can tell you about his defenses."

"Tell us about them, certainly," she replied, sending a warning glare over to Bastard, who looked like he was about to get mouthy again. "Overcoming those defenses is another matter entirely. He practically lives in the main administration building, which has numerous detection, alarm, and barrier seals that we've so far been unable to crack... what are you laughing at?"

Naruto had proven unable to contain his sudden good cheer, and what had started as light chuckles had transformed into full-blown, maniacal, cliché super-villain laughter. It was the best-case scenario for him. He hadn't dared try forcing his way into Kiri on his own, as a village's defensive grid was composed of numerous complex seal arrays. Between them and the regular patrols, even the world's greatest seal master - which was probably himself - would be unlikely to avoid triggering _something_.

Unless, of course, he had inside information. It was the very reason why he'd been hoping the rebels would reach out to him. Composing himself with considerable force of will, he ignored the wary looks everyone was giving him and got back to business.

"I'll let you in on a little secret. I've never seen the Yondaime Hokage's hiraishin, or the seals it uses; he merely provided me with inspiration. I designed my technique without help from him, or anyone else." Shock and disbelief were evident in the other occupants of the tent, which brought a smile to his face. "So you mentioned having trouble with seals? Do go on..."

* * *

**Kirigakure – Administrative Building  
****Three Days Later**

_'And that should be the last one,' _Naruto hummed, deactivating the final layer of defensive seals from the door of the Mizukage's office. It was the dead of night, and the information provided by the rebels, combined with his own talents, had allowed him to penetrate to the very heart of Kirigakure undetected.

Mei had been worried when he first told her about his plan, pointing out that failure here would compromise many of their informants within Kiri. The loyalists would undoubtedly investigate any breach in security, change their routines, and arrest anyone suspected of leaking intel. Naruto had, in return, pointed out that the information was useless anyway if they didn't take advantage of it, and had convinced her that the prospect of ending the war in one fell swoop was worth the risk. The next couple of days had been spent reviewing everything they had regarding seal layouts and patrol routes, until Naruto knew them all by heart. The building was as well-defended as he would expect from a village at war, but Mei's informants had proven themselves reliable.

No one was present when he entered the office, just as he'd expected and hoped. He still had no intention of fighting the Mizukage directly, and even trying to catch him asleep in his bed was too risky for Naruto's taste. Instead, he walked over to the Mizukage's impressive-looking chair and began carefully planting hidden seals. He'd been assured that chakra sensors, being rare and valuable, would not be brought in to sweep the room unless there was already reason to believe that someone had broken in. So he touched none of the documents, despite the obvious temptation (anything juicy would've been locked in the records vault at the end of the day, anyway), and reactivated all the seals on the door.

One hiraishin space-fold later, and he had successfully escaped a locked room.

* * *

"How'd it go?" Ao asked him, as Naruto reappeared in the small staging area they had chosen near Kiri.

Mei's executive officer was the only one waiting for him, as numbers wouldn't help with Naruto's plan in any way. The blond had initially offered to handle everything himself, but Mei insisted on having one of her own people present, and pointed out that Ao's undisclosed talents - which Naruto already knew about, and Mei knew he knew - would help them avoid trouble.

"Seeing as no one jumped me, they're either planning some incredibly cunning and fiendish trap... or I'm better at fuinjutsu then anyone in Kiri," Naruto said in reply. He knew which possibility he was betting on, though Ao didn't look quite so confident. Ignoring his partner's discomfiture at his words, Naruto made himself comfortable and rested his eyes.

The next step was just a matter of time.

* * *

**Mizukage's Office  
****Six Hours Later**

It seemed an ordinary morning to the Yondaime Mizukage, Yagura. He had awoken bright and early, as was his custom, and after breakfast he made the short trip to the administrative building accompanied by the usual two bodyguards. Their routine sweep of the area revealed nothing out of place, and no seals disturbed. Once they were satisfied with the safety of his office, Yagura sat down in his chair without the slightest hesitation and prepared himself for another average day of ruling over a ninja village during wartime.

His first inkling of trouble was when he felt his chakra network suddenly go haywire. As a jinchuriki, his chakra was wild at the best of times, but never had he felt it coil and twist upon itself so chaotically. His eyes widened, and he attempted to stand up.

Attempted being the key word. Instead of standing with the grace one would expect from a master ninja, his body violently twitched and shuddered. Then he tilted forward, and his forehead painfully collided with the desk as his body went limp in the chair.

* * *

Naruto's eyes shot open, the warning seal he had placed informing him that the others had gone active. _'Moment of truth, Naruto. Don't fuck it up,'_ he thought as he sat up from his prone position.

"Well, that's my cue," he informed Ao, who had been kind enough to take watch for the rest of the night. "Better get over there before his goons manage to figure out what's going on."

He disappeared before Ao could offer a reply.

* * *

Yagura's bodyguards, not being complete morons, immediately realized that something unpleasant had happened to their leader. One of them promptly opened the door to the office and stuck his head outside.

"Summon a medical team. Something's wrong with the Mizukage," he directed to the secretary, a young kunoichi who'd been severely wounded in battle and been given a desk job while she recuperated. No civilian needed to see the sorts of things that crossed a Kage's desk, after all.

"Surprise~ attack!" came a cheerful yell from inside the office, which belonged to neither his partner, or the Mizukage.

Upon turning back towards the room, he saw a young boy, probably not even a teenager, standing at the Mizukage's side with a hand on the defenseless leader's shoulder. His subconscious nagged at him, until he realized with mute horror that the boy's appearance matched the description of the one who had recently chewed up an entire platoon of skilled ninja and sent them packing.

The second guard growled, readying a kunai. "How did you get in here!? We were covering the only entrance!"

"Guess I'm just that awesome," the boy replied with a cheeky smile. "Anyway, I'm borrowing your boss. Don't wait up for him."

He disappeared, along with Yagura, just as abruptly as he had arrived, the kunai thrown by the second guard passing through the space his head had previously occupied. The first guard stuck his head out the door once more.

"Call every available tracking team - the Mizukage's been kidnapped!"

* * *

**Woodland Near Kirigakure  
****Same Time**

When he reappeared, helpless Mizukage in tow, Naruto noticed that Ao was already packing up their campsite. His inert passenger was placed on the ground, and Naruto shot his partner an exuberant grin.

"And that is how I won the war. The end."

"Not quite, kid." Ao responded, not pausing for a moment. "Even from this range, I can see how badly you jostled the beehive. They'll be desperate because of this, and desperate enemies are the most dangerous kind."

"Even if his followers decide to keep fighting, we got the instigator," Naruto said, walking over to help Ao pack. "Mei obviously thinks that's worth a lot, or she wouldn't have given me the information I needed to pull it off."

"...kill me..."

Naruto and Ao both looked at the other, wondering if the odd, soft-spoken request was made by their partner. When they each drew a blank, they looked towards the only other person within half a kilometer, and witnessed something that shocked them to the core.

_'Is he... crying?' _Naruto had certain preconceptions regarding the five Kage, thanks to his interaction with the Sandaime Hokage, and what he was witnessing simply _did not compute_. Lying on the ground, almost completely paralyzed, a man who was supposed to be a nutcase tyrant now had tear stains marring his cheeks.

Naruto, not one to be frozen in indecision for long, walked up and knelt beside Yagura. "When I heard you were a madman, I wasn't expecting the suicidal kind. What's up?"

Yagura's eyes focused on Naruto's face with an exertion of will, and his mouth hesitantly went through the motions of speech.

"I... I've done so many... terrible things. That man... he magnified every suspicion, every resentment, I ever had... until they became all that I was. I've nearly destroyed... everything I held dear..." With a shuddering breath and a distraught hiccup, he labored on. "Even now, I can feel his power... caressing my mind, looking for an opening. I'm a threat to Kiri – I have to be killed..."

"Ao! Get over here!" Naruto shouted behind him, thoroughly weirded out by his babbling prisoner. While the possibility of insanity still existed, the man's words hinted at an even darker reason behind his actions. Fortunately, Mei had generously provided him with the one man who could reach a decisive conclusion.

As Ao strolled up beside him, Naruto issued his instructions. "I need you to have a peek at his brain."

Ao looked doubtful. "You really think someone could plant a genjutsu on the Mizukage for years on end? I find that harder to believe than the alternative."

"Just look in his damn head!" Naruto snapped at him. "It's not like it's gonna cost you anything to check, and if I'm right..."

With an exasperated sigh, Ao focused his stolen byakugan to peer inside the Mizukage's skull.

Genjutsu normally worked by sending chakra inside an opponent's brain and nerve endings to manipulate their senses, but an extremely proficient user would be capable of altering someone's mentality. Something like what the blond was insinuating was theoretically possible, but such a complicated technique would be easily broken by anyone who was roughly equivalent in skill. For the Mizukage, of all people, to be ensnared, it would mean that someone of truly frightening power and ability was attempting to tear apart Kirigakure from the inside out...

"Shit," Ao muttered under his breath.

"That's the sound of someone who just got proven wrong," Naruto replied, though there wasn't a hint of satisfaction in his tone. "So? I don't have chakra vision. Why don't you describe what you see for the rest of the class?"

Even Yagura looked interested in hearing the results, or as interested as someone who could barely move could make himself look. Clearly, he wanted to know more about who had been messing with his head, and why.

Mindful that loyalist ninja were scouring the area by now, Ao decided to give them the short version. "There's chakra all over his brain, but most of it isn't concentrated in sensory processing regions like ordinary genjutsu. It's focused in parts responsible for higher reasoning. He still observes the same things anyone else does, but this genjutsu would make him respond to it in a different way. Or, at least, it did..." he trailed off, looking at Naruto, "but whatever seal you used to scramble his chakra network is also scrambling the genjutsu. Bad news is, it's a self-repairing genjutsu, and it's still trying to reform."

"You realize this changes everything?" Naruto asked, mind whirling with possibilities. "We didn't capture the responsible party; someone else is behind everything."

"Now's probably not the time to get into a long-winded discussion," Ao cautioned, heedful of the time constraints they were under. "A quick-reaction team is getting dangerously close to our position."

"Right. Grab on to me, then"

Minutes later, the luckiest of the loyalist teams stumbled on the remains of an empty campsite.

* * *

**Rebel Encampment  
****Half an Hour Later**

"We're not killing him," Naruto said, soft tone contrasting with a determined expression that would accept no other outcome.

After their arrival, they'd placed Yagura under heavy guard, with Naruto's seals still in place. Once Mei's people had asked him a few questions, Naruto and Ao had had a private meeting with Mei to discuss what they had learned and what they would do about it.

Naruto, predictably, had his own ideas.

"He's still a threat," Ao countered, crossing his arms. As the most experienced and blooded ninja present, he was favoring the safest course of action. "Rabid dogs may not be at fault for their condition, but that doesn't change the fact that they need to die."

"I got involved in this mess because I didn't like seeing innocent people get killed. I'm not changing that policy now. If you decide to kill him, I'm taking him and leaving." Cold blue eyes showed the other two in the room that Naruto was all too willing to follow through on his words.

"And what would you do with him?" Ao condescendingly asked. "Just wonder the world with a paralyzed ex-Mizukage?"

"Sure," Naruto replied confidently, catching Ao off guard. "You said the genjutsu has to be refreshed regularly, or the foreign chakra eventually gets depleted. Then he'll be safe even after I take the seals off, as long as whoever put the genjutsu on him can't find him again."

A wistful look appeared in the blond's eyes, as he began daydreaming. "The unloved orphan and the former Mizukage, going on wacky adventures together all over the world. I bet the book royalties alone would make us filthy rich."

Of course, he knew Kiri would never let the sanbi out of their grasp so easily, and without a way to make contact with the bijuu, he would be unable to gain its cooperation and safely free it from its host as he had Kurama. So many complications...

"Getting this meeting back on track," Mei interrupted from her desk, casting a significant glance towards Naruto, "while letting him live does pose some amount of danger, there are significant advantages to sparing him. Keeping our newest ally content is perhaps the least of them."

Seeing the looks of confusion on the faces of the two males, she smiled knowingly. "This country is currently torn apart by years of civil war. Getting everyone to play nice with each other is going to be difficult if we just cut off Yagura's head and declare victory. But if we can prove to the loyalists that Yagura never really wanted the purges and was, in fact, being manipulated..."

"Then it makes it look like we were the ones carrying out his true will," Ao continued her train of thought once he grasped it, "which convinces the loyalists to back down and makes you the obvious successor for the role of Mizukage."

"It also has the side effect of distracting everyone from hating each other, by focusing them on an outside threat responsible for trying to destroy Kiri from within," Naruto added, content that Mei had found a strong argument for sparing Yagura. "Clever girl."

"Thank you," she answered, "but that does bring up one important topic – who's responsible for this? According to Yagura's preliminary questioning, he only remembers a single red eye, with black markings."

"Sharingan," Ao and Naruto replied almost as one. Naruto had a passing familiarity with all of Konoha's bloodlines, and Ao vividly remembered his epic battle with the formidable Uchiha Shisui.

"As I suspected," Mei sighed, "but that doesn't really help us identify the perpetrator, considering Konoha's Uchiha clan are all dead."

"Except for that rogue who killed them all," Ao pointed out, then put a hand to his chin. "But why would he be targeting us? What would he have to gain from it?"

Naruto, knowing more about the 'rogue' Uchiha than the other two, felt a headache come on at the potential clusterfuck. If Itachi was following orders when he murdered his clan, couldn't he be following orders from Konoha now? Was Konoha behind this mess, hoping to profit from Kiri's weakness?

Frankly, Naruto's gut was telling him no. Yagura's madness had started years before the Uchiha massacre, at a time when Itachi would have barely even been a genin. Then there were his thoughts on the unknown Uchiha who had controlled Kurama. Assuming an Uchiha of such power had been living among the clan in the first place, would Itachi even have been capable of killing him? Maybe the same sharingan-wielder responsible for trying to destroy Konoha had moved on to try and destroy Kiri.

_'But what kind of agenda would lead a man to try to wipe out two ninja villages?'_

"...Naruto?" Mei brought his internal monologue to a screeching halt. Apparently, she and Ao had been discussing the Itachi possibility while he had zoned out.

Shaking his head, Naruto decided how much he would tell them. "Um, sorry about that. I just realized that the guy responsible for whacking the Uchiha was a little young to be responsible for Yagura. I'm thinking there's another one out there." There wasn't enough evidence to support the Itachi hypothesis (and some strong evidence against it), so he wouldn't raise Kiri's suspicions against Konoha. He didn't want to start a war so soon after helping bring one to an end, especially when he could be playing into the hands of someone who wanted both villages out of the picture.

Mei rubbed her forehead. "I see. So we still have no idea who or why, just that it's a rogue Uchiha."

"Back to square one," Ao groused, "since I don't think Konoha's surviving Uchiha is even out of their academy yet."

Realizing that there was nothing to be done about the unknown Uchiha without more information, Mei decided that a change of subject was in order.

"At the very least, we can take steps to minimize the danger of keeping Yagura alive," she began, addressing Naruto with her next words. "You've proven your competence with seals, and have already used them to subdue him once. Could you come up with a more long-term solution? Preferably one that doesn't leave him bedridden for the rest of his life..."

"I think I can come up with something," Naruto mused, going over the problem in his head. The current seals on Yagura were always active, such that the only way to stop the effect was to remove them entirely. For what Mei wanted, the seals would need to be toggled, preferably at a comfortable distance. But not just anyone could be able to activate the seals, as Yagura would be of no use against Kiri's enemies if they could shut him down too.

If anything, Mei would want something like the Hyuuga caged-bird seal, except with paralysis instead of pain; someone using genjutsu on Yagura might be able to make him ignore pain. So the same type of seals Yagura already had would suffice, so long as they could be modified for remote-activation by a single person. Probably Mei herself...

While Naruto disliked the Hyuuga's use of such seals on family members, sealing opponents to keep them from becoming future threats was much more acceptable to him. It certainly beat killing an otherwise decent person, which was the most likely outcome in this case, if Mei wasn't convinced that Yagura was no longer a threat.

"Alright, I'm pretty sure I can whip together a seal array that should do the trick," Naruto exclaimed enthusiastically, rubbing his hands together. "So let's talk price."

"...what?" Ao and Mei asked in unison, looking adorably confused.

"How did you think I made a living?" Naruto chuckled, clasping his hands behind his head. "Nobody's paying me for stealing a Kage, you know. My day job is designing and selling seals. I think you'll find my products to be reasonably priced, considering their high quality."

"I suppose... we can work something out..." Mei spoke hesitantly, bringing a finger to her lips in thought. Now that the war was all but over, she figured they could afford to offer some sort of compensation to the one who had made it all possible.

"Glad to hear it. So here's what I had in mind..."

* * *

**Port City Yokohama – Western Coast of Water Country  
****Four Months Later**

New Years Day, as well as Naruto's thirteenth birthday, had come and gone while he remained in Water country, and the place was definitely starting to look much better than it had when he arrived.

Immediately after the conclusion of that fateful meeting with Mei, she had sent a messenger to Kiri, informing them that the Mizukage had been the victim of insidious genjutsu. The message had also requested a meeting with a loyalist genjutsu specialist on neutral ground so they could confirm Mei's story, promising that the Mizukage would be there, alive and well. Suffice to say, that meeting had shaken things up in Kirigakure.

Just as Mei had hoped, much of the lingering post-war animosity was directed outward, at the unknown agent who had forced his will upon their leader. With Yagura's own approval and support, Terumi Mei had been sworn in as Godaime Mizukage and made great strides in reconciling the two halves of her shattered nation.

The one responsible for the mess had apparently realized the jig was up, as the last traces of foreign chakra had passed from Yagura's system months ago without anyone showing up to renew the genjutsu. Nonetheless, both Yagura and Mei had been under heavy guard to prevent any repeat occurrences, with Ao routinely checking over both of them.

Once Yagura was confirmed free of the genjutsu, Naruto had removed the original paralysis and chakra disruption seals, drawn the revised version, and had Mei apply the chakra activation charge to make her the only one keyed into it. After she was convinced that Yagura was safe, the former Mizukage had been allowed to resume active duty as a jonin and adviser to her. The sight of both of them working together side-by-side had been another important factor in reuniting the rebel and loyalist factions into a cohesive whole.

All in all, Kiri was well on its way to recovery, and Naruto himself had made a tidy profit as the preferred seal supplier of the current administration. It hadn't come as a surprise when Mei tried to recruit him into Kiri's ranks; he would have considered her to be remiss in her duties if she hadn't made such an offer. A commission as a tokubetsu jonin was his for the taking, along with a fast track for promotion to jonin, and a subtle hint that he might eventually find himself on the short list of candidates for Rokudaime.

But he'd turned it all down.

This war had taught him just how brutal the world of ninja could really be. He'd known it intellectually, of course, but reading about it and seeing it were entirely different things. Even though he'd grown up in a ninja village (and certainly fought like a damn good one), he was starting to feel as though he would forever be an outsider among ninja. His morals simply didn't mesh with theirs, and he felt as though he would never truly belong among them. Even Mei, nice as she was, undoubtedly had the blood of innocents on her hands. She would do whatever it took to ensure Kiri's prosperity.

Granted, the average ninja could probably go through their entire career without ever being asked to do anything too unsavory. But settling for mediocrity was also unacceptable, in Naruto's eyes. He had no intention of being just another average ninja.

So he had walked away. Being his own boss had advantages, not least of which was that he would never have to compromise. He'd toured Water country for a time, plying his trade, but his wanderlust told him that it was time to move on. So it was that he found himself in the same port city he had first arrived in, trying to decide which direction he'd take from there.

Wave was reasonably close to Water, and supposedly a prosperous center of trade. Maybe he'd go there next...

* * *

**Excerpt from Abridged History of the Shinobi World, Volume 4  
****Published in the 683rd Year of the Sage (Forty years after Akatsuki's destruction at the Battle of the Five Kage)**

**Kiri Civil War - Third Battle of Kirigakure**

**Participants  
**Rebel (Future Ally)  
Uzumaki Naruto

Loyalist  
Forty members of Kiri ANBU - Hunter Division

**Duration  
**Fifteen days from ANBU embarkation to ANBU withdrawal**  
**

**Casualties  
**Rebel  
None

Loyalist  
Nine dead, eight severely injured  
(Total purge team losses - one hundred seven dead, one severely injured)

**Result  
**Rebel Victory**  
**

**Summary**

In the final days of the Kiri Civil War, a third party chose to intervene on behalf of the rebel forces. Though Uzumaki Naruto had yet to make contact with the rebels, he had taken it upon himself to blunt the notorious bloodline purges by attacking isolated loyalist purge teams. After the complete destruction of over a dozen teams in less than a week, loyalist commanders decided to organize an entire platoon dedicated solely to killing him.

Unlike the First and Second Battles of Kirigakure, fought by rebel forces infiltrating the village and attempting to depose the Yondaime Mizukage, this battle did not take place in the village proper. Uzumaki Naruto had been basing his guerrilla campaign in the adjacent woodlands, tracking teams as they left the village. It was in this region that the loyalist platoon engaged him in battle.

At this early stage in Uzumaki Naruto's illustrious career, a combined force of forty of Kiri's best and brightest should have been more than enough to easily kill him. However, he understood his own limitations and refused to fight them head on, instead making ample use of traps and withdrawing before being overwhelmed. Aiding in his fighting retreat was his use of the infamous hiraishin jutsu, the first time the technique would be seen since the Yondaime Hokage's death over twelve years earlier. By instantly moving to distant locations without crossing the intervening space, he was able to evade the skilled trackers and prevent them from exhausting him. In the mean time, his continued strikes against purge teams resulted in the combined loss of nearly thirty such teams before those missions were discontinued.

With each skirmish, he managed to elude his pursuers and inflict more losses in the process. Once the platoon was down to about half strength, the commanding officer made the decision to withdraw. While there was some debate regarding a possible court martial for this failure, the flurry of events over the next few days effectively tabled that discussion.

Despite the relatively low number of combatants involved, this battle would prove to have far-reaching implications. The members of the platoon were some of the best the loyalist forces had to offer. The losses they sustained – and the mere fact that they were tied up for weeks - reduced loyalist combat power far out of proportion to their numbers. Even more importantly, the battle helped bring Uzumaki Naruto to the attention of rebel commanders. Their cooperation would prove key to bringing the war to a swift conclusion.

* * *

**Next Chapter**

_The dead do not know regret. Protecting those who shunned him is his greatest revenge._

* * *

**Author's Notes**

My knowledge of Japanese is nonexistent. The city name was taken from a map of Japan, while OC names were created by a Japanese name generator. Hopefully, none of the names mean something silly, but I just can't be arsed to look up meanings and create clever puns for an audience that almost certainly wouldn't understand them anyway.

Canon is rather light on details regarding the civil war in Kiri. All we know is that some level of open conflict took place (since it was called a war, and the Kaguya clan blatantly attacked Kiri), and people with bloodlines faced high levels of discrimination at the time (as seen in Haku's flashback). I've actually read some stories where Mei hid her bloodlines and was working as a high-level ninja in Yagura's forces while secretly undermining him, but I went with the more traditional route.

When writing this chapter, it occurred to me that there's a good reason why Namikaze Minato was considered to be in the same league as people like Madara and Hashirama. Even if he lacked the terrain-altering, awe-inspiring power of those two, casual teleportation is _incredibly_ useful in a fight (or to avoid a fight). I doubt I've even scratched the surface on all the ways that it can be used to cheese your way to victory.


End file.
